Beauty Products I'm Loving At The Mo...

I thought I'd mix it up a bit today with this post and give you lovely people something different to read other than wedding related posts ha! As much as I'm loving writing about the whole planning process with my wedding and giving out ideas and advice, I'm aware it won't be relevant to all of you and to be honest I've been thinking about writing this post for a while.

I've been loving a lot of beauty products recently and actually felt the need and want to do a post like this. I want to share what I'm loving with you and see if some of you might feel the same love for certain products or feel the need to try something out based on my thoughts :). I'm not going to share absolutely everything that I'm using at the moment here otherwise we'll be here for days but just those products that I'm using constantly and have really stood out to me for several months.

Skincare

A few months back I ran out of my last cleanser that I had. There was a stage where I had a few on the go, some were purchases/gifts and some were samples but the last one I had was the No7 Beautiful Skin Melting Gel Cleanser. Although this was a nice cleanser whilst I was using it and did the job, I didn't feel the need to instantly repurchase it and I still favoured the No7 Beautiful Skin Hot Cloth Cleanser over it. However, this time I was looking for a more purse-friendly cleanser (obvious reason being, with our wedding coming up the majority of our dosh has been spent on that). I went and had a look around Boots and liked the sound of the Garnier Skin Naturals Softening Cleansing Lotion. It was their slogan of 'Goodbye Dry' that attracted me, along with there being no parabens in the lotion and it being suitable for sensitive skin, which I can have at times. I also bought the toner and the Moisture Match Ultra Hydrating Cream so I could use the whole collection as a skincare routine. These products are really working out for me, so much so that I've already repurchased all of them and will continue to do so. They work for my dry, sensitive skin and they make my skin look supple and dewy. The prices are really reasonable and the last time I repurchased they were priced at 2 for £4, so there are often offers on too. If you have dry, rough skin and are struggling to find a product or range that really works for you, I'd recommend giving these a go and at least they won't break the bank!

I was also given the opportunity to sample the Mary Kay Skinvigorate Cleansing Brush around the same time as I found the Garnier products. I received a press release with the opportunity and I was thrilled to be honest because all the rave seems to be about the Clarisonic and although it might be great and have fab reviews, it isn't necessarily going to suit all budgets, including mine! The Mary Kay Skinvigorate Cleansing Brush is a lot more reasonable in terms of price. I think it has a slightly smaller brush than the Clarisonic but it still has the same concept and I absolutely love mine. Around the time I found the Garnier products, after the cold weather, I was feeling a bit 'bleurgh' about my skin because it felt rough and dry at times and so I was also going to get an exfoliator. However, as I received this to test out just before I bought the Garnier products, I decided to use this with my Garnier cleanser and thought hopefully it should do the trick to thoroughly cleanse my face but remove all dead skin cells and keep my face soft, supply and dewy. I keep mine in the bathroom and use in the shower or at the sink. I'd say out of 7 days, there might be 2 where I'll use face wipes or cotton pads with my cleanser but I use this on most days because I love how it makes my skin feel and I no longer have the 'bleurgh' feeling or feel that I must be doing something wrong with my skin because this is sorting it all out for me. I can have sensitive skin at times, so I might get a little bit of redness but most of this is natural, it's nothing too harsh caused by the cleansing brush and used with the Garnier cleanser which is suitable for sensitive skin, I don't feel any discomfort at all. It is said to remove make-up 85% better than if you were to cleanse by hand. It prepares the skin to absorb moisturiser/skin care products better and you'll find that your make-up goes on a lot better too. It's really made a difference to my skin. It comes with two brush heads and I've just looked on the website to see if they sell the brush heads separately and they do, so I'm really pleased about that as mine is due to be changed, so I have one left to use and then I'll have to repurchase.

Hair

Another product everyone seems to go mad for is the Tangle Teezer and fair enough that product won't break the bank but I was sent another product months ago now that has exactly the same concept and is even cheaper and who doesn't want to save money where they can, right?! The Denman Bright Detangling Brush is small, round and bright! I have the purple one (it's a given really, I love purple!) and it sits in my shower so after shampooing and conditioning I can use it to smooth out my hair before I step out the shower. It has extra soft plastic pins so you can give yourself a scalp massage if you wish. You could also use it outside of the shower and for a different use, such as, to distribute gels and waxes a bit better when styling your hair. I love the handle, you can slip your hand in and really get a grip on your hair. I use it every time I shower without fail.

This brings me onto another Denman product that I've also been using for months. The Tangle Tamer is a similar product to the detangling brush in that it smooths out your hair without any pain or a huge loss of hair. I keep mine in the bedroom for when I'm out of the shower and brushing/styling my hair for drying/straightening/curling etc. It's great whether your hair is dry or wet and I don't lose nearly as much hair as I have done using other regular brushes.

Make-Up

I've found that I prefer to use stippling brushes when it comes to applying my foundation. I love that they gives me a flawless complexion. I used to have one that I bought from Ebay or Amazon so long ago now I can't even remember when it was but it broke at the end of last year so I decided to invest in a better one. I opted for the Real Techniques Stippling Brush and I love it. There's not a whole lot to say really about a make-up brush but I love the quality of it and the whole look - it's a lovely pink! I don't have any brush hairs coming off onto my face and the brush is really soft and feels lovely when I'm applying my foundation. Like I said it provides a flawless base and ensures that you can get into all areas of your face and blend in that foundation perfectly.

I've raved several times about the Maybelline Dream Fresh BB Cream on Twitter and it is definitely one of my favourite found products of last year. I even recommended it to my aunty last year for her wedding as she doesn't normally wear foundation and just wanted a subtle base and now she loves it! A base for me is all about it being light, me feeling like my skin can breathe and something that gives me a fresh, dewy glow. I use this with a little of the Collection 2000 Long Lasting Perfection Concealer (which has been my favourite concealer for quite a few years now) on top and it provides me with the perfect, flawless base that I'm looking for. I love that it's oil free, as I'm not a fan of greasy products and the fact that it has an SPF of 30 in it. Always a bonus with make-up! I've repurchased this a few times now and will continue to do so.

The BB cream is my budget base and for something a little bit more pricier I love the Chanel Vitalumiere Aqua Foundation which is light and provides an amazing radiance, this has an SPF of 15 and I'm going to be purchasing this for my wedding/holiday. Mainly as a treat as I have someone doing my make-up for the wedding so I'm not sure what they're going to use. Whilst we are on 'bases', I've never been a massive fan of powder but at the moment I'm using the Miners Cosmetics Fresh Faced Powder in soft sand. I use a little after I've applied a primer and then a little after I've applied my concealer which finalises my base. It's just to set everything in place really and I've found my make-up lasts a lot longer since I've been doing this. I use the Bare Minerals Full Flawless Application Face Brush to apply my powder.

There was a time when I never used to really do anything to my eyebrows, I'd brush them through but that's about it. I've used various eyebrow pencils in the past and just gone with it but since I had my HD Brows Palette in a Glossybox some time ago now, I haven't looked back. I had the 'Foxy' palette which consists of a nude, ash brown, warm brown and carbon. On the HD Brows website they don't seem to sell the palettes as quads like mine any more, but they still have the 'Foxy' type, just in a different palette. They do have other shade types aswell. I use the HD Brows Fine Angled Brow Brush with my palette and they work really well together. I don't tend to go for striking, bold eyebrows I just like to fill them in so there's a full shape there. The powder provides a soft and natural look and is easily removed with cleanser/make-up remover but stays in place as it should. On the website it says that all palettes now come with a finishing wax so that your brow colour can be set in place even more.

I love a nice sun-kissed glow, especially during the summer as I don't tend to tan that easily. My staple bronzer currently is the MeMeMe Shimmer Stack in bronze. It consists of five different shimmer powders/colours and you can use the shades singularly but I tend to mix the shades together. I always try to just apply it where the sunlight would naturally hit but I love the radiance it gives off and it makes me look really healthy. I always feel that little bit better with a tan, so I do really love this. I use it on my décolletage too, more so when I'm going out for the evening.

I have numerous blushes but the one I want to mention is one that I've been constantly reaching for during the past 7-8 months. I'm nearly running out of it as it was a little circular sample blush from a Glossybox, but it's the Mica Beauty Mineral Blush Powder in Terra Cotta. It's a lovely coral/orange colour, but quite subtle and it just provides a lovely translucent glow. It feels light on the skin and not cloggy or too much and I've really been enjoying using it. It took me a while to want to try it out to be honest as I've used powders/mineral foundations in the past and not been overly keen and I prefer the fresh, dewy glow that you usually get with a liquid base, but like I said at the moment it's my go to blusher.

In terms of an eye product, my go to eye liner is the Daniel Sandler Long Lasting Waterproof Eyeliner in grey, which is a soft, velvety formula that glides onto the eyes and stays put until you want to remove it. I love the grey colour for a smoky, smudged kind of look and it is suitable for both day and night. I find if you apply it as it is onto the waterline it's good for a nice, chilled daytime look and if you wet it a bit and apply just below the waterline onto the skin where your lash roots are and smudge it in a little, it's lovely for the evening :).

I love a red lip. Even during the day time if I'm not opting for just a lip balm or a slick of gloss, I prefer to go for bold colours and it almost always ends up being red. I have two main products that I like to use, the first is Nars Pure Matte Lipstick in Vesuvio, which is described by Nars as being a full bodied red. I love it for a really bold colour, however it can be a little bit drying which I find most matte lipsticks to be, but I apply lip balm whilst I'm doing the rest of my make-up and then apply the lipstick on top. Sometimes I leave it like this but sometimes for an added extra, I add the MeMeMe Light Me Up Lip Gloss in Intense. The gloss is high shine and comes with a mirror on the side and lights in the lid so you can even apply your lip gloss in the darkest of places. It also contains plumping agents for volume. I love this overall lip look for a night out.

Are any of your favourites above?

Let me know about your current favourites :).

Thanks so much for reading!

Gem XxOo

Images courtesy of Boots, Mary Kay, Denman, Miners Cosmetics, Real Techniques, HD Brows, MeMeMe, Mica Beauty, Gorgeous Shop and Look Fantastic.

My Birthday Haul in London...

Hey Lovelies!

So, if you follow me on Twitter, you would have seen at the end of June 2011 I was ranting about me going to London for my birthday for a few days. My birthday is on the 1ST July and we went to London from the 30TH June 2011 until the 2ND July 2011.

The main reason we went to London was to see Take That at Wembley on my actual birthday-the lovely Fiance bought himself, me and my Mom tickets to go see them :-) bless! We also saw a West End show on the Thursday night-Jersey Boys, which is fantastic. Me and Simon (the Fiance) have seen it five times now! Ha....we love it!

On the Thursday when we got there we went to have a look around Camden Market and on the Friday we went shopping in Oxford Street, so I thought I would do a little haul post and share with you the things that I bought myself. As we had things booked we didn't have a LOT of time to shop, but I still found a few nice bits :-). Also, the week before we went to London I bought a few things from a Blog sale which I will also show you.

The first shop I came across and wanted to have a look in was Jane Norman. I heard that it was going into administration and to be fair I was gutted. I am a big fan of the brand and have bought a fair few bits from them over recent years. They had a sale on so I decided to go and have a nosy. The only thing I saw in there that I liked this time was some sunglasses-I needed some nice black ones. I have coloured sunglasses, which don't go with everything and I have some black ones that look a bit tacky now because they had all diamantes on the sides and half of them have fallen off, so I decided to buy some from there. After about 15 mins in a hot, stuffy shop (it was lovely weather and there were loads of people in the store due to the sale-so it was boiling in there) and asking my Mom which ones looked nicer. I decided on this pair:

They are Black Cats Eye Sunglasses and were £9, reduced from £12. They are medium tint, UV400 lenses and absorb 100% of harmful UV rays. I really like them and have been wearing them since I bought them, as the weather has been lovely lately! They are really comfortable and I love the case they came in, which will keep them protected when I am carrying them around in my bag. Overall a great buy! You can buy them here, but as the company is in administration, I am not sure how long they will be available for!

The next place I went into was TopShop. They had a sale on aswell :-). I always find with sales though, that items I like in a certain shop before a sale, are never there when the sale is on or just aren't in the sale at all. I must just leave it too late to get to the shop, because some people I know get really good bargains, but when I go I always leave feeling disappointed, probably 80% of the time lol. Oh well! Anyway the items I bought in TopShop, weren't even in the sale-typical! However, I had my eye on the top I bought for a while and as I had money to spend for my Birthday, I decided to go ahead and treat myself.

I bought this lovely coral orange scallop jersey top (this is what it said on the receipt). It was £15. I wore this for the first time a few nights back when me and Simon went out for a meal. I had it tucked into jeans with a little cardigan (it wasn't that warm, otherwise I would have worn it without the cardigan). It has the scallop edge on the straps, the front, the back and the bottom of the top. I love the shorts in the scallop hem style aswell-I have some cotton scallop hem shorts I bought from H&M (you may have seen these in one of my hauls on YouTube, you can see it here). It is really flowy aswell when not tucked into anything. You can buy it here.

I also bought some Jelly Belly Jelly Beans from TopShop aswell-random I know but they were only £1.50 and looked so nice with all the different yummy flavours, like Watermelon, Top Banana, Green Apple, Very Cherry and Lemon :-). I haven't eaten them yet as they were in the TopShop bag for this haul, but I shall be tucking into them after this post! They had a huge range of sweets and novelty items in the TopShop on Oxford Street. I don't think they sell these kinds of things in all TopShops (definitely not in the one where I live), but they do in London, just so you know :-). Here are some more pictures of me wearing the top I bought:

When we were at Camden Market, I came across this independent market stall at the inside market of Camden Lock that sold handmade soaps and bath bombs. There were loads of yummy looking ones in the shape of cupcakes, slices of cakes etc. I picked up this one:

As you can see it was beautifully wrapped and only cost £3! There was no company name on the packaging and I can't remember what it said above the market stall but if you do go to Camden Lock Market, go inside where there are plenty more stalls and you won't be able to miss it-it stands out cause it's so pretty! :-). This one smells like strawberries and cherries :-) can't wait to use it!

So onto what I bought from the Blog Sale. The sale was on a lovely girl called Charlotte's Blog and you can see her Blog here. The first thing I spotted was this gorgeous satchel bag and it was one of those things that I looked at, then carried on looking at other things in the sale, then I went back to it, then carried on, then went back to it and so on and so forth! I really really liked it so had to buy it lol. It is from Primark-but the Primark where I live must be the worst one because there are never any good things there. You know when you see other peoples Primark hauls and you see some really nice stuff, well when I go into the Primark here, it's always pants! In my opinion, Birmingham and London's Primark are the best ones-although they are always busy! Lol. Anyway, here is the little beauty:

I love this bag and Charlotte was selling it for just £5. I think they were selling it for £7 in Primark, but like I said they never have any of the good things in my Primark. Charlotte said she had only used it about three times, so I decided to go for it! My sister has also been eyeing this up, so no doubt she will be asking to borrow it soon! Lol. Unfortunately, Primark don't have an online store-but if you pop into your Local Primark you might be lucky enough to spot one of these. I know they have the bags in different colours aswell! :-).

The last thing I bought from Charlotte was the Collection 2000 Shimmer & Shade in No 3. Just Peachy. I spotted this in Boots a while ago but didn't really want to pay £4.19. I spotted it on Charlotte's Blog Sale for £1, so definitely wanted to snap it up! Mainly to use as a highlight and I love it. It was practically brand new aswell, you couldn't even tell if it had been used when I received it. I think I've used more of it trying to do swatches for this post ha! It even contains Vitamin E and Silk!

(Left to Right; Base Shade, Large Flower Shade and Small Flower Shade). They are subtle, highlight colours, so aren't really pigmented, but you should just about be able to see them. I haven't used it properly yet, as it has been in a bag waiting for me to do this haul, but I will probably include it in a make-up tutorial or look soon, so keep your eyes peeled! :-). You can buy different shades of the compact here (I can't find the exact one I have on the Boots website, but you might be able to find it if you pop into your local Boots).

The lovely Charlotte, realising it was my birthday put a lovely message in with the package thanking me for my purchases and wishing me a lovely birthday and a great time in London. I thought this was really sweet as she didn't have to do this. Bless her! Also she added some extra goodies in with the package-so sweet of her!

(Special Edition Glossy Tubes by Barry M. Left to Right; Coral/Peach Shade, Red Shade, Pink Shade). Unfortunately these Barry M Special Edition Lip Glosses don't have names on them, but these swatches are in the same order as the pictured glosses above. These were special edition, so I don't think they are for sale any more-but you may be able to find them on websites such as Ebay or MakeupAlley.

(17 Ultimate Volume in Pink Ice-you can buy this here).

(NYC Lip Sliders Tinted Lip Balm in Sugar Kiss). I am not sure where Charlotte got this from, but if you are after one she is available to contact on her Blog or her Twitter.

As you can see Charlotte was really generous with what she sent me and it really made my day opening the package! :-). Thanks again so much Charlotte-one for selling the things I bought and two for the extra goodies you sent me :-).

So that's it! I had a lovely Birthday and can now fully enjoy my purchases :-).

Thanks so much for reading my post-please follow, like and comment :-).

Much Love Gem XxOo

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Pictures: All pictures unless otherwise stated are my own. If you wish to use them please credit my name by them-Gemma Tranter.